South Korean man impresses staff at local nasi padang stall as he tries to order food in Malay

Ordering nasi padang can be a jittery experience, especially if you don't speak the local lingo.

Felicia Song's husband hails from South Korea and had challenged himself to order a plate of nasi padang in Malay.

Felicia documented his brave attempt in a TikTok video on Sunday (April 29).

As the couple made their way to the hawker stall, the Korean man proudly showed his wife something that would help him with the ordering process.

"I am prepared," he said, pointing to his 'tolong' (translates to help) notebook.

@feliciasongggg My Korean husband finally mustered up the courage to try ordering Nasi Padang and only using Malay!??? He practiced really hard since Singlish is Oppa’s biggest challenge..! #koreanhusband #orderingnasipadang #nasipadang #malayfood #localfoodsg #sgfoodie #singlish #bahasa #sgfyp #sgtiktok #tiktokmalaysia #tiktokindonesia ♬ 오리지널 사운드 - feliciasongggg

Felicia herself has never ordered nasi padang in Malay before, so coming up with a notebook of translations seemed a good idea.

Her husband admitted: "Only using Malay to order is hard for me too, but I want to give it a try. I want to try doing it properly."

As he was about to order, the nervousness seemed to creep in. Thankfully, there was no one else waiting in line at the stall, which probably would've added pressure otherwise.

Felicia's husband stumbled through his first few lines to the staff who was taking his order.

But she seemed visibly impressed by his effort, even asking him where he was from. 

She was patient with him as he continued with his order and even joked with her colleague that a "South Korean artist" was at the stall.

There were numerous occasions where he could've switched to English, but he didn't cave in and opted for the Malay translation.

Whenever there was something he wasn't sure about, out came the tolong notebook.

With his basic grasp of Malay, he impressively managed to order a plate of white rice, vegetables, rendang, egg, potato and sambal.

His endearing attempt at ordering food in a local language has also earned praise from netizens, with the TikTok video drawing more than 300,000 views and 400 comments.

Among the many users praising the Korean man's effort, one TikTok user declared: "He deserves more portions by ordering in full Malay."

AsiaOne has reached out to Felicia.

Notebook for cai fan, too

In September 2023, Felicia and her husband were in a similar situation, but instead of nasi padang, he was ordering himself a plate of cai fan in Bukit Panjang.

It was an unfamiliar task and he had practised beforehand by writing down the steps of ordering cai fan onto a notebook.

ALSO READ: 'My stomach doesn't feel good': Woman eggs her South Korean husband on to try classic Singaporean breakfast

[email protected]

No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.